The Paramount Queen mother of the Nkonya-Ahenkro Traditional Area, Nana Otubea II, has urged stakeholders to effectively collaborate efforts to deal with teenage pregnancy.
She noted that teenage pregnancy was not only a health challenge but a development problem that needed a lasting solution.
Nana Otubea, who made the call when she was addressing stakeholders in development at Nkonya-Ahenkro over the weekend, lamented that teenage girls were dropping out of school.
As the queen mother, she had initiated an educational programme to educate stakeholders, particularly parents, on the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy.
Nana Otubea urged parents to play their roles effectively to help stop teenage pregnancy and its related problems.
She said, “If care is not taken, teenage pregnancy can become a major social problem that the country would deal with in the future”.
Nana Otubea said teenage pregnancy had economic and social problems that needed to be prevented, stressing that “some girls drop out of school as a result of teenage pregnancy, and their parents neglect them”.
She appealed to parents not to neglect teenage mothers because they needed love, care, comfort and counselling, and encouragement to return to school after giving birth.
Nana Otubea said when parents failed to show love and support to their teenage girls during difficult times of pregnancy, they appreciated men who demonstrated love and supported them during their pregnancy.
Touching on the Nkonya and Alavanyo land conflict, the queen mother said the youth of the two communities attended workshops to bring peace.
The Assembly Member for Nkonya Ahundwo, Mr Emmanuel Asare, expressed worry about teenage pregnancy in the area, saying “it is unfortunate that some parents allow their children, including girls, to stay late in the night at funerals and other ceremonies to the detriment of their studies”.
He noted that teachers continued to play their roles, however, some parents needed to show greater commitment to the education of their children, particularly the girl child.
Mr Asare appealed to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to support the efforts of the queen mother.
FROM SAMUEL AGBEWODE, NKONYA-AHENKRO
